Creighton University

Creighton University Overview

Creighton University, founded in 1878, is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the United States designed in the Society of Jesus tradition and Catholic identity of academic excellence and service to others. The University is located in Omaha, Nebraska.

The University provides its 4,104 undergraduate and 2,888 professional and graduate students an atmosphere that challenges them academically and professionally, and supports and inspires them individually.

In addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, which enrolls 37 percent of the University’s students, Creighton has the College of Business, School of Dentistry, the Graduate School, and the Schools of Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Health Professions and University College.
Creighton offers its students faculty-led and independent study-abroad programs in nearly 40 countries.

The athletic teams are strong on the court and field plus, notably, in the classroom. With 94 percent graduation rate for student athletes, Creighton is tied for 23rd among all NCAA Division 1 universities and its teams have been honored by the NCAA with its Public Recognition Award.

The University’s academic medical center, Creighton University Medical Center, is the busiest trauma center in the state, home to a top-ranked program in cardiology and programs in nutrition ranging from obesity to diabetes, and internationally recognized for research in hereditary cancers and osteoporosis.

Faculty

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 12 to 1, Creighton retains 732 full-time faculty and 240 part-time faculty as well as those who contribute their services on a volunteer basis.

Creighton University faculty members have received Fulbright and other fellowships, including being named scholars-in-residence at the Securities and Exchange Commission and Congressional Budget Office. Research awards to Creighton for the 2007-08 academic year totaled more than $41.5 million.

The University has endowed chairs. Most of these reside in the University’s schools or colleges. The following are current all-university or health sciences:

The John A. Creighton University Professor, Robert P. Heaney, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.I.N.
The Charles and Mary Heider Endowed Jesuit Faculty Chair, The Rev. Donald A. Doll, S.J.
HEALTH SCIENCES The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Endowed Chair in Health Sciences, Amy M. Haddad, Ph.D.

Isabelle Cherney, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, was recognized by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as Nebraska’s 2007 Professor of the Year. Cherney directs Creighton’s innovative Honors Program.

Students

The academic profile of the 2008 freshman class places Creighton among the top five private universities in the Midwest and among the top eight Catholic universities in the nation.

Of the fall 2008 freshman class, 71 percent were National Honor Society inductees; 41 percent of the students with class rank ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class; 48 percent scored 27 or above on the ACT (placing them in the top 10 percent in the nation).

Creighton is achieving success in social-economic diversity – providing more access to students and families and fulfilling an important aspect of the University’s mission. For the 2008-09 academic year, 24 percent of Creighton’s freshman class is first-generation college students and more than 200 come from families with an annual income of less than $60,000.

The 2008 freshman class was also very involved in high school activities, including 85 percent active in church and/or community service organizations; 52 percent involved in a student government position; 66 percent active in a high school varsity sport; and 50 percent participating in music, theatre, or dance.

Diversity

The 2008 freshman class also identify themselves as members of 30 different faiths; 58 percent identify themselves as Roman Catholic. Twenty-four percent also are first generation college students and 23 percent identify themselves as students of color.

Legacy

Twenty-eight percent of the 2008 freshman class members are “legacies,” with families ties to the University.

Student Achievements

Creighton University students engage in a wide variety of research, scholarship and creative projects. They earn recognition from national academic honor societies and receive such prestigious awards as Fulbright, as well as Goldwater, the James Madison Foundation and National Science Foundation fellowships.

Alumni

More than 52,000 current Creighton alums live in 89 countries. Sixty-eight percent live in the U.S. outside Nebraska, with 30 percent living in Nebraska. The largest numbers of alumni living outside the U.S. reside in Canada, Japan and Malaysia.

More than 96 percent of our graduates are employed, involved in volunteer work or attending graduate/professional school within six months of graduation.

Additional Information Points

No other institution of its size offers as broad a range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs.

Creighton has been recognized as an economic driver, community service advocate and urban developer in a Top 25 national ranking. In 2008 the University was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth.

For the fifth consecutive year, Creighton University in 2008 is No. 1 in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of Midwest masters’ universities. It is the tenth time in 12 years Creighton has been No. 1, and the 21st straight year the University has been ranked at or near the top of the magazine’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition. Creighton also was recognized as No. 1 in the Midwest region as a “best value,” where students get the best return on their tuition investment.

Creighton ranks 5th in PC Magazine’s Top Wired Colleges, and is the only university in Nebraska and the only Catholic school in the nation recognized.

It was the first university in the country to notify students of acceptance by text message.

Creighton University is included in the list of colleges that produced the most 2007-2008 U. S. Fulbright Fellows. The University was also one of only eight universities to have four undergraduate students awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

Creighton’s Online Ministries provides one of the finest faith-based websites in the world – with an average of 1.7 million visitors each month from 125 countries.

Creighton students, alumni, faculty and staff have volunteered approximately 58,000 hours of community service in one year – helping the poor and underserved locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

The campus design and master plan have received top awards in landscape and architecture.

The innovative Ratio Studiorum advising program helps first and second-year students plan their curricula, careers and way of life focusing on ethics, service to others and a search for truth and justice. In 2007, Creighton established the Office of Student Success to fulfill elements of the University’s mission by aiding in the development and transition of Creighton’s newest students. The office coordinates numerous educational services, including peer-to-peer education, alcohol education, peer academic leader training, Welcome Week, tutoring, study skill workshops, academic success counseling and several other student success-related programs. The name of the office was deliberately chosen to help students readily understand that this unit is there to help them be successful.

Since 2000 Creighton has invested more than $285 million in on-campus improvements and planned expansion. This is all part of the University’s nationally recognized campus master plan, which has capitalized on historical opportunities to purchase land in order to create a more vibrant and robust campus environment. The Mike and Josie Harper Center for Student Life and Learning, the signature east-campus anchor facility of this plan, will open in the fall of 2008. The building integrates student and academic services under one roof and serves as the University’s new front door, welcoming prospective students and their families, alumni and all campus visitors. The University also broke ground for a new athletics center on campus at the northeast corner of Webster Street and Florence Boulevard in the fall of 2007. The Ryan Center and D. J. Sokol Arena, a 46,000 square- foot- facility, will house a gymnasium, women’s basketball and volleyball coaches’ offices, locker rooms, ticket offices, athletic training and meeting rooms, media workrooms and much more. The arena is also expected to be used for other campus and community events including campus assemblies, coaching camps/clinics, concerts, speakers, and high school graduations.